If National wins ...

[iceman]

Here you go blackcap http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/52...4-201311140325

[blackcap]

Here you go blackcap http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/52...4-201311140325

Cheers Iceman, I guess I forgot about google... thanks for the link. Seems like labour like pressing the self destruct button.

[blackcap]

Frankly ...

Labour et al (including the rabid feminist movement in NZ and some Nats) policies around increasing female representation in govt and boards is seriously flawed. Bad science, bad statistical analysis, bad communication and un-proven that it'll make any difference whatsoever.

I have yet to see any scientific paper that has stood up to rigorous analysis that confirms equal representation based on sex will make any difference. And please fellow posters do not post copious links from highly biased parties and/or interests that suggest otherwise. Happy to read and digest any paper that has withstood rigorous scientific scrutiny if anyone can find one.

Wow I find myself agreeing with Belgarion. Totally think this equal representation just does not cut it. I am not against females in office but the female pool of willing participants is so much smaller thus trying to make it equal is self defeating as you have to go to lesser able people to have your quota filled.

[iceman]

Wow I find myself agreeing with Belgarion. Totally think this equal representation just does not cut it. I am not against females in office but the female pool of willing participants is so much smaller thus trying to make it equal is self defeating as you have to go to lesser able people to have your quota filled.

That's 2 of us
In the last decade or so, some of the Nordic countries forced equal representation (men & women) on listed company's boards. There is increasing evidence that this has been an abject failure resulting in much lower quality Boards as shareholders can no longer simply vote for the most qualified and experienced Director to represent them.
The only reason this politically correct policy is now being revisited and openly discussed, is due to the fact that some of the most high profile and successful female Directors have come out swinging against it !
While I would like to see more quality female Directors on Boards in NZ, I hope we will never see rules implemented to force it.

[craic]

Saw exactly this in a Govt. Dept. where I worked for may years. Quotas became more important than skills and I saw some wonderful stuff-ups as controlling officers competed to employ on the basis of ethnicity or sex rather than the best for the job. The sad part was that those of the right sex or ethnicity who came into the work on their own merits were often made to suffer the flack from poor decisions. Controlling officers became expert at covering up their own mistakes with anything from duct-tape to lies.

[elZorro]

There is a lot of reasoned argument on the web about this equal MP gender numbers policy from Labour. I agree that it is poor timing from the party in the leadup to an election that they can certainly win.

No-one has mentioned that if you look on the MP list for the National Party, it is made up of 75 % males (44 MPs) and 25% females (15 MPs). From their website.

When you consider that the last Labour term's economic, cultural and general performance was distinctly better than National's has been, in so much of the captured data, you have to wonder if a more representative mix of MPs is better for most voters.

[winner69]

El zorro ...I a bit miffed about your mate David calling for an inquiry into fletchers involvement in the Chch rebuild and saying that options paper on the building materials costs didn't go far enough.

Jeez mate hard enough to make a buck without more interfering goodie two shoes. Can say fletchers are exactly creaming it can we

[elZorro]

El zorro ...I a bit miffed about your mate David calling for an inquiry into fletchers involvement in the Chch rebuild and saying that options paper on the building materials costs didn't go far enough.

Jeez mate hard enough to make a buck without more interfering goodie two shoes. Can say fletchers are exactly creaming it can we

I have a close family member running a business down there, a lot of work about, but it's competitive in the building area. Lean margins on the build and if anything goes wrong, the wages get paid but the business treads water. Fletchers could still be charging a decent margin on materials though, perhaps the freight costs make it tough.

I didn't find the article you were talking about, maybe it was in NBR? I'm not a subscriber to right-wing news sites

[Major von Tempsky]

E Z - your last posting 12.10 a.m.?!! Can't you sleep worrying about what mistake the Labour leadership will make next.....

[elZorro]

E Z - your last posting 12.10 a.m.?!! Can't you sleep worrying about what mistake the Labour leadership will make next.....

MVT, I think you'll find it was 1.10pm. Which is early afternoon. I'm more worried about what your guffawing Mr Key will say on our behalf at CHOGM.

Labour is concerned about rising house prices. In an age where houses are built of materials that last 20 years perhaps, not the 50-100 years they used to be built with, why are they now a bigger multiple of the average wage, or more unaffordable? Sure, they may have more fittings, a bigger floor plan. Recently some bright sparks started advertising PVC window frames. These are so much better then earlier versions. Now you can expect 20 years of service from them. Just 20 years. What a waste of human effort.

I think Fletchers have an offshoot that does aluminium window framing. That's a good material, plenty of NZ content. But also a highly profitable area. Extrusions are usually trade priced at so many dollars a kilo, no matter what the extrusion is. A 150kg raw billet is remelted, extruded through a die and cut to length. At this point it's now worth perhaps 4x the raw material and heating cost, even after a trade discount. Cut it up a bit into window frames and you'll get the picture. Not sure if window prices have come down, but the raw material has. Aluminium is only US 79c a pound on the open market.

You can do the same sort of exercise on mains and data cable. Weigh it to see what the maximum copper content is, add a bit more for machine handling and to wrap some PVC plastic around it, and that's what you should be paying per roll in bulk. But it's usually a lot higher than that.

FBU's shareprice looks fairly healthy.